“Yes.” I swallowed hard. I needed to tell them that we were married; it was the entire purpose of our call, but with them staring at me in disbelief, I couldn’t find the words.

“We actually called to tell you the good news,” Alex said, his voice calm as my heart raced. He squeezed my hand in solidarity, and I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I was frozen with fear.

“Sarai?” my aunt asked, her brows drawn together.

“We got married,” I finally said, lifting my hand to show off my ring. I tried and failed to smile as my aunt snapped backward as if I’d slapped her.

“You what?” my uncle asked, his voice lower but no less calm.

“Tell me you’re joking,” Aunt Adinah said, pursing her lips. “Tell me this is a joke.”

“I’m not joking,” I said, my throat burning as she paled.

“Sarai Levy,” she said, tears in her voice as she stared at me. “You didn’t even tell us you were engaged.”

Alex’s hand tightened around mine, but I couldn’t look away from my aunt and uncle, who were visibly disappointed.

“Why would you call to give me this news?” my aunt asked. “You clearly don’t care what I think if you ran off and got married to a stranger without a word to anyone.”

“He’s not a stranger,” I whispered.

“He’s a stranger to me,” she shot back, her voice trembling.

“I know that you’ll love him,” I replied. “He’s a good man.”

My aunt huffed and waved her hand as if she were brushing me away. When she stood up and walked out of the camera’s view, I had a hard time holding back the sob that rose up in my throat.

“Give her time,” my uncle said with a sigh. “She’s heartbroken.” He reached forward and closed the laptop without saying good-bye, and I knew that my aunt’s heart wasn’t the only one I’d broken.

I stared blankly at the black screen. I’d known they’d be angry. I’d prepared myself for that. But I hadn’t anticipated how hurt they’d be. I’d screwed up.

“Well, that went well,” Alex said jokingly, his hand coming up to rest on my back.

My laugh turned into a painful sob, and once the tears began, I couldn’t control them.

“Shit,” Alex murmured, pulling me onto his lap. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispered against my hair, his hand rubbing my back in long sweeping strokes. “It’ll be okay. They’ll come around.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he might be wrong. That my aunt still carried grudges from high school, and that even though my uncle had seemed calmer than her, he was feeling this betrayal just as deeply.